Triethyl citrate is an ester of citric acid. It is a colorless, odorless liquid used as a food additive (E number E1505) to stabilize foams, especially as whipping aid for egg white. It is also used in pharmaceutical coatings and plastics.Triethyl citrate is also used as a plasticizer for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and similar plastics.Triethyl Citrate (C12H20O7) is a triester of ethyl alcohol and citric acid. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry for coating and in plastics. According to the FDA Select Committee on Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) food substances, citrate salts, including triethyl citrate, are generally regarded as safe when used in normal quantities. Triethyl citrate was not an irritant to the skin of humans and laboratory animals. In dilute form, it showed no sensitizing potential in humans. Acute toxicity was low by the oral, dermal and inhalation routes in laboratory animals. Single oral treatment caused kidney damage in rats, and central nervous system (CNS) effects were seen following oral or injection administration to various species of laboratory animal. In limited studies, repeated oral doses were tolerated by rats but caused liver damage in dogs and CNS effects in cats. Rats exposed repeatedly to the vapour showed lung damage. Triethyl citrate was non-carcinogenic when given orally to rats in a limited study and was non-mutagenic in an Ames bacterial test and in yeast. Its hydrolysis products are citric acid and ethanol.A continuous reactive distillation process is proposed for the synthesis of triethyl citrate from citric acid and ethanol in the presence of macroporous Amberlyst 15 ion-exchange resin catalyst. The process design, developed using ASPEN Plus simulation software, is based on laboratory kinetic and thermodynamic studies and pilot-scale reactive distillation experiments. Pilot-scale experiments were carried out in a 5-m glass reactive distillation column; catalyst effectiveness was then determined from ASPEN Plus simulation of pilot-scale experiments using a user-written reaction kinetic module based on activity coefficients. Because citric acid esterification kinetics are slow, complete conversion could not be obtained in the pilot-scale column. Using parameters determined from simulation of a pilot-scale column experiment, design of a reactive distillation column to completely convert citric acid to triethyl citrate was carried out. Optimum column performance occurs at low reflux ratios (L/D < 0.1) to avoid water reintroduction and at moderately elevated pressure (2.5 bar) to increase temperature and enhance kinetic rates without leading to product degradation. The effect of ethanol feed position and values of reflux and boilup ratios were also examined. A large number of reactive stages is required because of the slow reaction of diethyl citrate to triethyl citrate. As a final step, the design of a complete commercial-scale process to produce 25 million lbs/y triethyl citrate, with the reactive distillation column as the core component, was carried out. Three different process schemes were examined. In the first scheme, only a reactive distillation column is used. The second uses a prereactor followed by a reactive distillation column. In the third and preferred scheme, a prereactor followed by a simple distillation column to remove water is placed ahead of the reactive distillation column. In each configuration, triethyl citrate product yield is maintained above 98.5 wt %, with the main byproduct being diethyl citrate. Comparison of stream compositions and equipment design parameters is provided for the three schemes considered.